Andy Cates

Andrew F. Cates (Andy) is the Founder and CEO of RVC Outdoor Destinations (www.rvcoutdoors.com), the leading developer and owner of high quality outdoor resorts in the United States. He is also the Managing Member of Value Acquisition Fund (www.valfund.com), an acquisition, development, and asset management company.

In 1999, Cates was the Founding Chairman and Project Developer of the Soulsville Revitalization Project (www.soulsvillefoundation.org), one of the largest inner city revitalization projects in the United States that includes The Stax Museum, Soulsville Charter School, and Stax Music Academy.  In the summer of 2000, Cates worked with a team of business and civic leaders to attract the Vancouver Grizzlies National Basketball Association franchise to Memphis, Tennessee and was a Limited Partner in the original ownership group.

Cates began his real estate career in Dallas working for the Trammell Crow Company and Crow Investment Trust (now Crow Family Holdings) as a member of the team responsible for partnership and loan workouts, office and industrial acquisitions, asset management, and commercial real estate development. After leaving Crow, Cates was a founding partner in Viceroy Investments, LLC based in Dallas, Texas and is currently a partner in two Viceroy sponsored partnerships.

Cates served on the Board of Directors of Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) from 2009 - 2020. Over his more than eleven years of service, Pioneer was one of the top performing energy stocks in United States. Cates also served on the Board of Directors of PICO Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PICO) from 2016 - 2017 where he helped lead a turnaround that resulted in a 55% increase in the stock price over his 18-month tenure.

In 2018, Cates founded Memphis Fourth Estate, Inc. (www.memphisfourthestate.org) which started and now oversees The Daily Memphian (www.dailymemphian.com), one of the largest “digital newspapers” in the United States. He currently serves as its Board Chairman.

Cates earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance) degree at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to serving on the Memphis Fourth Estate board, he also serves on the boards of the Myelin Repair Foundation and Memphis University School.